Great action, average acting, D-grade wannabe Australians

Rating: 5/10 (25 July 2013)

I don't watch films with a critic's eye, so I will not mention anything about cinematography or plot holes really... I enjoy films most when I feel as though I've developed an emotional connection to one (or more) of the characters. On a slight sidenote, some people like listening to music purely for the shredding of the guitars, the pounding of the bass etc. or the melody in general. Others enjoy music most when they can connect to the song through the lyrics. This movie fell into the unfortunate category of "good music - with uninspiring, cookie-cutter lyrics and bad vocals".
The storyline was banged up to fit around the action sequences really. That wouldn't be a problem, had the actors actually breathed some life into their characters. Due to average performances and one-dimensional dialogue, I didn't give a damn about any of the characters. Charlie Hunnam sounded like he was narrating a B-grade video game throughout the entire movie; his performance was pretty weak. Idris Elba has been average in pretty much everything other than Prometheus (from what I've seen of him so far), but he does the job. Rinko Kikuchi did a nice job with what she had to work with. I enjoy Ron Perlman usually and he was pretty good in this, but nowhere near his usual charismatic self. I felt like punching the two Scientists in the face... One was a complete and utter nerd, the other was a strap-on to pop culture. Both of them completely unfunny and annoying.
However, let's move on to what really made me angry.
As an Australian, I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH how INSULTING it is when Americans attempt our accent. Not even Robert Downey Jr. in all of his brilliance can do it (and I'm a big fan of RDJ). STOP IT. GIVE IT UP. YOU'LL NEVER DO IT. It is pure ignorance and arrogance at the same time, thinking people will take you seriously.
Note: AUSTRALIANS DO NOT SOUND LIKE ENGLISHMEN WHO HAVE LIVED IN SOUTH Africa AND/OR NEW ZEALAND. Hire REAL Australians. There are tens of thousands of Aussies who would jump at the chance to feature in Hollywood Blockbusters.
Having said that, Max Martini's Australian accent was at least 75% better than Robert Kazinky's. Being a Brit, one would expect Robert to be pretty convincing, but no... The New Yorker kicked the Brit's ayess!
All in all, the movie was a letdown.